Softball: Extra Innings (4/28)

Three of the six Monmouth County Tournament Red Division first-round games played today were decided by three runs or less. Another resulted in the tournament’s first true upset – we’re not counting No. 9 Manalapan over No. 8 Red Bank Catholic.

Ocean’s struggles on offense have been well-documented over the past few seasons. Today, though, the 10th-seeded Spartans woke up at the plate against freshman Olivia Galinis, collecting 13 hits in a 10-5 win against the No. 7 seed Warriors, whose only previous loss was the 17-12 game with Wall.

As is often the case for Ocean, pitcher Gianna Kinhofer led the way, but did so with her bat, which she used to go 4-for-4 with five RBI. She hit a two-run home run in the top of the first to get things going and also drew a walk in the game. Jenna Ambrosio went 2-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored and an RBI for Ocean, which scored three runs in the fourth to break a 3-3 tie.

For Manasquan, which had its six-game win streak snapped, Meredith Bryant went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and hit a solo homer. Ocean will play second-seeded Middletown South, which played one of the games that wasn’t close today, beating No. 15 seed Mater Dei, 8-1.

Alex Jacinto and Jill Troiano each went 2-for-4 with two-run homers in that one, and Jacinto also had an RBI single as part of a four-run first inning. Alli Podmajersky, who struck out seven and walked two to improve to 7-0, also had an RBI single in the first, and Abbey Schulz’s two-run double pushed the lead to 4-0.

Erica Falvey had two more hits today, and the Eagles’ hope is with Jacinto and Falvey getting hot, some of the pressure will be taken off of Troiano, whose homer today was her first of the season.

The closest MCT game today was No. 5 seed Howell’s 3-2 victory against No. 12 Holmdel. To be fair to the Rebels, though, they never trailed in the game after Monica Smith and Stephanie Grainger hit RBI singles in the fifth to make the score 2-0. Howell also played and beat Monroe earlier in the day. Carsin Conner, who added an RBI single in the sixth against Holmdel, limited the Hornets to two runs on two hits. The Rebels will visit fourth-seeded Allentown in the quarterfinals. The Redbirds secured their second win against a Shore Conference team this season by beating No. 13 seed Red Bank, 11-1, in five innings. They also defeated Raritan last Saturday.

Completing today’s MCT Red Division action were a pair of 4-1 games that were closer than probably a lot of people expected. Top-seeded St. John Vianney got an RBI double from Amanda Durham and Kate Baron doubled twice and scored two runs against No. 16 seed Middletown North, and Dani Petrone homered for the second straight day in No. 4 seed Wall’s win over No. 13 seed Neptune.

The Lancers, who also had a 6-0 win against Shore today with freshman Ashley Ventura tossing a no-hitter with 13 strikeouts and one walk, will host No. 9 seed Manalapan, which lost to the Lancers 1-0 in last year’s MCT, in the quarterfinals, while the Crimson Knights await their opponent. They’ll host the winner of Wednesday’s game between No. 11 seed Freehold Township and No. 6 seed.

We’ll touch on the MCT Blue Division after the jump, but first the Ocean County Tournament, which had games in both the small- and large-school brackets today.

In a large-school first-round game, No. 2 seed Toms River North defeated No. 7 seed Southern, 9-3, as Sam Reilly went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Bailey Doyle went 2-for-4 for the Rams. The Mariners will host No. 6 seed Jackson Memorial in the large-school semifinals.

In the small-school first round, No. 5 seed Pinelands eliminated No. 4 seed Point Beach, 6-2. Kerry Mahon’s three-run homer in the third gave the Wildcats a 4-2 lead. Point Beach had taken the lead on a Mackenzie Donald two-run double in the first, but in the third, Emma Neuweiler walked and Alison Waldron reached on an error with two outs to bring up Mahon. Pinelands awaits the winner of the game between top-seeded New Egypt and No. 8 seed Point Boro, which beat No. 9 seed Lakewood, 13-0, in the small-school play-in game today. Nicole Dayton threw a one-hitter in that game, and Casey Fehring was 4-for-4 with three RBI.

Play also continued in the MCT Blue Division today with Keyport, Henry Hudson and Monmouth advancing. The 24th-seeded Red Raiders beat No. 25 seed Freehold in the play-in game, 5-3, behind Taylor Sheridan, who went 2-for-4 with a homer, and will visit No. 17 seed Marlboro in a first-round game.

In first-round action today, Ali Maddock went 2-for-4 with two RBI to lead No. 23 seed Henry Hudson to a 7-1 win at No. 18 seed Matawan, and freshman first baseman Jade Eggleston was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI in No. 19 seed Monmouth’s 8-5 win over No. 22 seed St. Rose. The Purple Roses scored five runs before an out was recorded in the top of the seventh, but the next three batters were retired to end the game. Both Henry Hudson and Monmouth will play teams that drop down from the Red.

The most interesting regular season today took place in Toms River, where the top-ranked team in the Asbury Park Press Top had to overcome a four-run deficit after one inning. Toms River East trailed, 5-1, but scored 16 unanswered runs to beat Monsignor Donovan, 17-5. Corey Schwartz, who was 4-for-4 with four RBI; Sarah Bencivenga, who went 2-for-5 with three RBI; and Jordan Weed, who was 2-for-4 with three RBI, all homered for the Raiders, who scored eight in the top of the sixth.

Kaylee Hoeler’s bases-clearing triple was the big blow in the bottom of the first, when the Griffins scored five runs and knocked Weed out of the game after she recorded just one out. Bencivenga settled things down for the Raiders, though, giving up three hits over 6.2 shutout innings. She struck out four and walked none.

It was a good day overall for the Shore in regular season, nonconference games. Marlboro beat Elizabeth, 14-0. Samantha Brinskelle threw a five-inning one-hitter with nine strikeouts and one walk, and Jaymee Fried, Brooke Kaminski and Rachael Bleier each drove in two runs. Prior to its MCT Blue loss, Matawan beat Old Bridge, 11-8. Erin Powers’ two-run single put the Huskies ahead, 9-8, in the bottom of the sixth, when they scored five runs. Powers, a freshman, also earned her first career win with two innings of relief.

No. 6 Raritan struggled at Pequannock’s tournament, however, dropping a 5-0 result to DePaul and losing, 9-2, to Passaic Valley.

Comments

About Robert Ziegler

Robert Ziegler is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University and has been an Asbury Park Press staff writer since September 2006.

8 Responses to Softball: Extra Innings (4/28)

Rob, what seems unfair to me is softball coaches that will not submit stats to the APP when players would be up on the list of some categories. Then there is no way that you are aware of these players, but this is typical of our coaches.

Isn’t part the of the challenge for coaches deadlines? If submissions are due midweek and the team plays two or three more games thereafter, those numbers would not be reflected in the paper that week.

I suppose, however, that if not one girl from your school appears that perhaps your individual coach did not submit the team’s stats.

Concerning the “stats”, they are only as accurate as the scorekeeps book (judgement) and the relay from coach to paper. At times though, when something does not seem right, it would be healty for paper (Rob, etc.) to question a coach before being published. Example – The Toms River East pitcher (Weed) lost to Morris Knolls on 4\21…she left the game after the 2nd inning trailing 4-2 (and East lost the game)…how the heck would that covert to a 10-0 record??? Makes ya wonder…check it out!

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The No. 1 source for scores, news, notes, discussion and more for Shore Conference baseball and softball.

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Chris RotoloChris Rotolo graduated from The College Of New Jersey in May of 2011 and has been working in the Asbury Park Press' Sports Department since September of 2010 covering BlueClaws Baseball, Ice Hockey, Track & Field, and Cross Country, Tennis, and more. Follow along on Twitter: @rote7123E-mail Chris

David BiggyPart of the Asbury Park Press family since 1999, originally with the Ocean County Observer, David Biggy was brought to Neptune as a sports features writer in August 2010. Follow David on Twitter @BiggyAPP.E-mail David

Steve FalkSteve Falk has been a high school football writer at APP for a year. Previously, he was at the Ocean County Observer for 18 seasons.E-mail Steve